TINSUKIA, Apr 6 : Union minister J P Nadda on Monday accused the Congress of treating the tea tribes as a “vote-bank” that it “harvested” every five years while not working for their welfare.
Tea Tribes in Assam are the descendants of the labourers brought to the region during the colonial period from the present-day Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar tribal belts in the 19th century.
Addressing a rally in support of the BJP’s Doomdooma candidate Rupesh Gowala, the former party chief also claimed the Congress had rolled out the red carpet for infiltrators during its rule in this northeastern state.
“The Congress treated the tea tribes as a vote bank to be harvested every five years. You all supported them but, they pushed the future of the community into darkness,” he said.
Nadda alleged that the Congress “invited infiltrators into Assam, and sheltered them here, providing them with Aadhaar and Ayushman Bharat cards for appeasement politics”.
“These people are grabbing the land of the Adivasis and the poor,” Nadda said, while asserting that the BJP would take back this land and drive the illegal immigrants out.
“Their names are being deleted from the voter list, and those remaining will also be struck off,” he said.
Nadda lauded the tea tribes, a majority in this eastern Assam constituency, for their “stance against infiltrators”.
“I salute the people of the tea tribes for not allowing the infiltrators to settle here, thereby saving the future of Bharat Mata,” he said.
The Union minister also hit out at the Congress for the “violence, killings, strikes, unrest and curfew” during its tenures in the state.
The people were left to their own means and the government did not do anything to provide any relief, he alleged.
The senior BJP leader said the Congress has been reduced to a “tired, broken, hollow and mentally bankrupt party”, failing to perform its role as a responsible opposition in Parliament.
He also questioned former PM Manmohan Singh’s contribution towards Assam, being a Rajya Sabha MP from the northeastern state.
Nadda maintained that it was the BJP-led government under PM Narendra Modi that had ensured peace, stability and development in Assam in the past decade.
“After Modi became the prime minister in 2014, Assam and the North East were assimilated with the mainstream. Development of the ‘double engine’ government has transformed the face of this region,” Nadda asserted.
He said it was the Narendra Modi-led government that accorded classical status to the Assamese language.
Listing various welfare initiatives being undertaken in the state, Nadda promised that the BJP-led NDA would expand these measures once it returns to power.
Nadda said connectivity has improved, number of educational institutions has increased, jobs have been provided and free education ensured by the state government.
He said that while these measures will continue, the BJP-led government will implement the Uniform Civil Code and undertake a massive programme to make the state flood-free if it retains power.
The Union Health Minister also addressed another rally for its ally Asom Gana Parishad’s candidate for Naoboicha constituency, Basanta Das, in Lakhimpur district.
The peace and development Assam has witnessed in the last decade was leading the state in a new direction, with progress across all sectors, he said.
The changes were evident at the grassroots level with improved roads and bridges, healthcare system, educational institutions and employment opportunities, Nadda said.
He also exuded confidence that the people will re-elect the BJP-led NDA for a third straight term in the state in the April 9 elections. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
